Golf club



J. H. BOYE.

GOLF CLU APPLICATION FILED AU I921.

- Patented Dec. 5,

Patented Dec. 5, i922.

JAMES H. BOYE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GOLF CLUB.

Application fi1ed August 13, 1921. Serial No. 491,917.

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JAMES H. Born, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Golf Clubs, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to golf clubs, and has reference more particularly to an improvement in clubs of the type usually employed in lofting a ball out of a low spot or depression in the ground, such as the spoon, and also to clubs employed for making short approaches to the putting greens and getting the ball out of bunkers lying close to the putting greens. Clubs of this type are commonly formed with an upwardly and rearwardly inclined striking face, the rearward inclination being quite pronounced so as to strike the ball with a lifting action. Such a stroke almost invariably imparts what is known as a back spin to the ball which not only greatly limits the extent or amount of distance through which the ball isdriven but also, on account of the back spin, prevents it from bouncing or rolling forwardly and usually causes it to fall dead and lie substantially where it strikes the ground.

The main object of the present invention is to provide an improvement in the character of the striking face of such clubs, by which, without impairing the lofting function of the club, the back spin may be prevented or checked, so that greater distance of flight may be obtained with a given stroke, and the ball when it strikes the ground will not stick but will bound and roll forwardly.

Another object is to provide an improve ment of the character described. which may be readily applied to or grafted on standard clubs.

The nature of my improvement, and the manner in which the described purposes or objects are attained thereby, will be readily understood and appreciated by persons skilled in the game of golf from the followingdetailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein I have illustrated several practical forms of the invention, all embodying the same structural principle, and in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective elevation of the head and a portion of the handle of a golf club embodying my invention in one approved form;

Fig. 2 is a cross section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective, similar to Fig. 1, illustrating an embodiment of the invention wherein the improvement is attained by means of an attachment to the standard wooden club; 7

Fig. 4 is a cross section on the line 44 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a cross section showing the improvement embodied in a plain wooden head.

Referring first to the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, 6 designates as a whole the head of the wooden club known as a spoon and 7 designates the lower portion of the handle thereof. The forward face of the wooden head is formed with an upwardly and rearwardly inclined surface 8 having the standard inclination of the striking face of the spoon, but extending only about three-fourths of the full height of-the face of the club. Above the face 8 is an upwardly and forwardly inclined face 9 extending from the upper end of the face 8 to the top of the club. The inclination of the face 9 is substantially the same as that of the face 8, but is a forward inclination relatively to the vertical instead of a rearward inclination.

Fitted to the faces 8 and 9 is a striking face preferably of metal, and comprising an upwardly and rearwardly inclined portion 10 forming a cover or lining for the face 8 and an upwardly and forwardly inclined portion 11 forming a cover or lining for the face 9. Continuous with the portion 11 is an attachment portion 12 which overlies the uper surface of the club'head, and is secured to the latter by a screw 13. The portion 10 of the facing or lining is likewise secured to the club head by a pair of screws 14. On the bottom of the club head is the usual thin metal wear plate or shoe 15.

Figs. 3 and 4- illustrate the standard spoon club modified by an attachment to embody the principle of the present invention. Here the head 6 of the club has the standard con struction having the upwardly and rearwardly inclined striking face 16 extending the full height thereof. Attached to and covering the upper portion of the face 16 is a metal strip 17 having a fiat straight upwardly and forwardly inclined face 18 corresponding to the face 11 of the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2. This strip has an integral attachment plate 19 overlying the top of the head and secured to the latter by a pair of screws 20. On the lower edge of the strip 17 is a substantially horizontal lip or flange 21 which is fitted tightly into the groove or kerf 22 formed in the face 16. By this construction the striking face of the standard spoon is modified to present the two oppositely inclined faces 16 and 18 which correspondto the faces 10 and 11 of the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 5 shows a plain wooden head 6, the striking face of which is formed to present the two oppositely inclined surfaces 23 and 24 meeting at a comparatively wide angle at a point above the vertical center of the face.

In all of the constructions shown, the lower rearwardly inclined face is preferably roughened by longitudinal grooves, as is customary in clubs of this character, to pre vent slipping of the ball when struck.

In playing with a club of the structure described, the first contact of the club on the ball may be by the lower surface, or by the upper surface or by both surfaces simultaneously. In a properly played stroke, the ball will be first struck at a point below its central horizontal plane by the lower surface, which will cause the ball to rise and at the same time impart a backward spin thereto causing the ball to roll upwardly on the face of the club. In doing so, the surface of the ball at a point well above the horizontal plane of its center strikes the upper forwardly inclined surface of the face of the club. This instantly checks the back spin, and as the club is carried through, causes the ball to sail forwardly practically without any spin and as it strikes the ground to bound and roll forwardly.

If the club strikes the ball a little lower down, the two surfaces may simultaneously strike the ball at a point below and above the horizontal plane of the center of the latter. In this case, no initial spin is imparted to the ball by the blow, and the ball sails forward, striking, bounding and rolling as in the stroke previously described.

Where the club is improperly swung too low, the upper forwardly inclined portion of the striking face may first engage the ball. This gives the latter a slight forward spin which, however, is instantly checked when the lower portion of the ball strikes the lower oppositely inclined portion of the striking face of the club, so that, even under the im pact of an inaccurate blow, the ball is advanced substantially in the manner already described. In all cases it will be observed the ball is lofted and propelled forwardly substantially free from the rapid back spin created by the ordinary spoon and mashieniblick, and much greater distance is obtainable than with the latter'clubs.

I am aware that it has heretofore been proposed to give to the striking face of a golf club a shallow concavity in both vertical and horizontal directions, the face hemg continuously curved from top to bottom. In my construction it will be observed the face has no curved surface but is made up of two oppositely inclined straight flat surfaces which meet in a wide angle at a point from two-thirds to three-fourths of the vertical height of the striking face. It is well known that the perfectly flat striking face which touches the ball at but a single point, will propel the latter, under a blow of given force, farther and cleaner than a concave face which more or less closely fits the convex surface of the ball, and strikes the latter not at a point but throughout an area. Hence I do not regard a vertically concave striking face having a continuous curvature from top to bottom as the equal or equivalent in effectiveness and results of the striking face herein shown and described, and comprising two oppositely inclined contact surfaces meeting in a wide angle at height of the club head.

Although I have shown and described several specific embodiments of the principle of my invention, it is evident that the same principle is capable of embodiment 1n specifically different structures, and hence I do not limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but include therein any structure of club head having a striking face possessing the structural characteristics hereinabove described and shown in the drawings.

I claim:

1. A golf club, the head whereof has a striking face comprising a lower flat upwardly and rearwardly inclined portion, and an upper upwardly and forwardly inclined portion.

2. A golf club, the head whereof has a striking face comprising a lower flat upwardly and rearwardly inclined portion, and an upper flat upwardl Y and forwardly in.- clined portion; said inclined portions meeting in a wide angle at a point above the mid height of the striking face.

3. A golf club, the head whereof has a striking face comprising a lower fiat upwardly and rearwardly inclined portion. and an upper fiat upwardly and forwardly inclined portion; said inclined portions meeting in a wide angle at a point approximately three-fourths the height of the striking face.

i. A golf club having a head provided with a flat upwardly and rearwardly inclined striking face, and a member attached to said head and formed with a flat upa point somewhat above the mid wardly and forwadly inclined striking face disposed above said rearwardly inclined face.

5. A golf club having a head provided with a flat upwardly and rearwardly inclined striking face extending above the mid-height of the head, and a member attached to said head and formed with a flat upwardly and forwardly inclined striking face angularly continuous with said rearwardly inclined striking face.

6. A golf club, the head whereof is equipped on its ba1l-engaging side with an angular face plate attachment presenting a flat upwardly and rearwardly inclined lower striking face and a flat upwardly and forwardly inclined upper striking face and p means for securing said face plate attachment to said head.

7. A golf club the head whereof is equipped on its ball-engaging side with an angular face plate attachment comprising a fiat upwardly and rearwardly inclined portion extending from the bottom to above the mid height of the head, a flat upwardly and forwardly inclined portion extending from the top of said rearwardly inclined portion to the top of the head, and a substantially horizontal extension overlapping the forward portion of the top of the head, and means for securing said face plate attachment to said head.

JAMES H. BOYE. 

